Hon'ble Finance Minister Shri. K. N. Balagopal inaugurated a two-day workshop on 'State Income Statistics' jointly organized by the Kerala State Planning Board, State Statistical Commission and Department of Economics & Statistics, which was held on March 31st and April 1st 2023.

Minister stated in his inaugural address that timely and reliable statistics play an important role in development, which is indispensable for planning, project implementation and monitoring. He added that the State has recognized the importance of statistical data in dealing the pandemic situations such as Covid. The relevance of data in day-to-day affairs is also very important. The minister pointed out that concerted efforts are necessary for the effective use of state level statistics and its improvement in a timely manner.  

Hon'ble Vice Chairman of State Planning Board Dr. V.K Ramachandran pointed out that in the context of the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, the revision and strengthening of state statistics is inevitable. Shri. Puneeth Kumar IAS, Member Secretary, State Planning Board commented that Statistics is the fuel of planning process.  Shri. P.C. Mohanan, Chairman of State Statistical Commission, and Dr. Subra Sarkar, Deputy Director General of National Accounts Division, Government of India presented their views. Dr. Santhosh. V, Chief, Perspective Planning Division, State Planning Board expressed vote of thanks.

In the technical sessions on state income determination in various sectors of the economy, heads of departments, officials and experts participated in detailed discussion.